Cold One!

Went to Carlyle this morning. It was cold when the wind picked up!! I caught close to 20 fish, 4 keepers 10 1/2" to almost 12". It didn't matter what color I used. Seemed like they bit early then when the wind came up that was it. The fish feel like ice cubes when you pick them up. They are starting to let water out at the dam, maybe some fish will come back upstream after the die-off they had this summer. There wasn't very much ice, mostly open water. That will probably change after tonight and the next few days!

Wish - Thanks for your report on Carlyle - we don't get many reports on that lake. It seems that most of the posts on this thread are from central Illinois. Were you fishing the lake itself or the spillway area below the dam? I have never fished Carlyle. I have heard the spillway area can be productive at times.

I was in the lake off the bank. I guess they had a big fish kill this Aug. in the spillway pool. The ACOE had the gates closed on the dam and the fish down stream all bought the farm. Lack of oxygen, someone told me that there were thousands of Walleye, Sauger, Cats, Drum and yes Crappie buy the truck load. I think the only thing that made it thru in any numbers were the crazy carp. That is the pool where the water comes out of the dam to the Route 50 bridge just below the dam. Hopefully all the fish down stream from there made it and will start trickling back up. The only answers you get from anyone that controls the water is that the Lake is used for flood control not recreation. They make sure that all those SAIL BOATS have ALL THE WATER THAT THEY NEED but not the fish!!!! Who knows? Talk at you later!